Lug-strap holder for looms



Oct. 21 1924. 1,512,118

J. J. LYTH LUG STRAP HOLDER FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. '7 192]- J. J. LYTH LUG STRAP HOLDER FOR LOOMS Oct. 21 1924.

Filed Feb. "1, l9? 2 Sheets-Shea- 2 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

JOHN J. LYTH, OF VALLEYFIELD, QUEBEC, CANADA.

LUG-STRAP HOLDER FOR LOOMS.

Application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN J. LYTH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Valleyfield, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lug-Strap Holders for Looms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in means for attaching lug straps to picker sticks of looms, and the object of the invention is to provide means-for attaching the lug strap without injury to the picker stick.

A further object is to provide for fine ad justment of the position of the lug strap on the stick.

A still further object is to provide means for guarding the stick against Wear.

Another object is to provide means for decreasing the amount of power required to operate the loom and relieving the whole picker mechanism and loom of considerable stress.

Still another object is to provide means for partly absorbing shock upon the picker stick due to the sudden tightening of the lug strap.

The lug strap, as is well known, is looped around the picker stick and the amount of motion is determined by the position of the strap in the length of the picker stick. To determine the position of the lug strap, a supporting loop is provided which is merely a strap looped through the loop of the lug strap and attached at its ends to the picker stick to form a rest in which the lug strap lies. The supporting loop is usually attached to the picker stick by means of a wood screw. This form of attachment has the disadvantage that the screw soon enlarges the hole and becomes loose, so that it must be shifted to another position or a larger screw used which will tightly fill the hole in the stick. If it is desired to alter the position of the lug strap, the screw must be shifted to a fresh position on the stick and, in practice, it is not possible to shift the screw less than twice its diameter in order to obtain a good grip in the stick. In a comaratively short time, the stick becomes so filled with holes that it must be discarded or, if left in, there is danger of breakage and damage and delay. In addition, the movement of the supporting loop relatively to the picker stick soon wears the stick. Fur- 7, 1921. Serial No. 443,208.

thermore, the sudden applications of power according to the present system approximating a hammer action require a great amount of power and subject the picker mechanism and the whole loom to great and sudden stresses.

The present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages above enumerated by providing means for attaching the supporting loop in such a manner that no holes are made in the picker stick. The invention further aims to guard the picker stick against wear and to provide for minute adjustments. The invention further includes means for gradually applying power to the picker stick, so as to avoid unduly stressing the mechanism and at the same time to economize in power.

The device consists briefly of a wear plate and means for adj ustably attaching the same to a picker stick, the said means also operating to attach the supporting loop which holds the lug strap in proper position. A

resilient connection is provided between the picker stick and the picker mechanism.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device in position on a picker stick.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device alone. v

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device equipped with a shock absorber.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a modification.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66, Figure 2.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a modified form of wear plate.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a modified form of cushion spring.

Referring more'particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a picker stick and 12 a lug strap looped around the stick. A. wear plate 13 is mounted on the stick and is held in alignment with the stick by lugs 14. arranged in pairs on the ends of the plate and which embrace the stick. The plate may be provided toward one end with a pair of laterally projecting apertured lugs 15, through which the arms of a U-bolt 16 may be passed, the central portion of the U-bolt being adapted to bear against the surface of the stick remote from the plate 18. Spaced lugs 15, as shown in Figure 7, between which the bolt arms pass, may be substituted for the apertured lugs. The central part of I this U-bolt may if desired be widened, as indicated at 17, so as to have a considerable bearing on the picker stick for the purpose of preventing the bolt from cutting into the stick. The ends of the supporting loop 18 are positioned by impalement on a pin 19 projecting preferably from the plate 13 and are clamped tightly to the plate 13 by an apertured plate 20, through which the pin 19 and the arms of the U-bolt 16 pass. If desired, the ends of the supporting loop may be riveted to the plate 20, as indicated in Figure 4. Obviously the relative arrangement of the pin 19 and plates 13 and 20 shown in Figure 6 may be reversed without departing from the spirit of the invention, but the arrangement illustrated is preferable as it facilitates renewal of the supporting loop. Nuts 21 are provided on the ends of the U-bolt and spring locking washers 22 are provided between the nuts and the plate 20. The device is assembled as shown in the drawings, the supporting loop lying against the opposite side of the plate from the picker stick and the lug strap 12 being looped through the supporting loop in the usual manner. WVhen the device is adjusted to proper position, the nuts 21 are tightened down and draw the central part 17 of the U- bolt tightly against one edge of the picker stick and at the same time clamp the ends of the supporting loop tightly betweenthe plates 13 and 20 and clamp the plate 13 to the stick. The locking Washers 22 serve both to hold the nuts against loosening and to compensate for any change in the thickness of the picker stick due to expansion or contraction.

The shock absorbing and cushioning means comprises essentially a resilient body disposed between the driving portion of the picker mechanism and the picker stick, such body being usually a spring. A very simple, efficient and inexpensive method of including the resilient body is to provide a leaf spring 23 between the supporting loop and the plate 13, as shown in Figure 3, the

said spring underlying the whole length of the supporting loop, as clearly shown in Figure 3, and being clamped at one end between the supporting loop and the plate 13. The spring may be held against slipping out by having its clamped end turned away from the plate 13 and over the ends of the supporting loop, as shown at 2-1, or the end of the spring may be provided on each side with spaced lateral. projections 24, as shown in Figure 8, adaptedto embrace between them the arms of the U-bolt. If the pin 19 is used the spring is necessarily apertured at 19 for passage over the pin and reliance may be placed on this as the sole attaching inc-ans. The spring curves smoothly away from the plate, as shown, so asto have a rolling action when flattened both to avoid pounding against the plate and also to distribute the fleXion throughout the length of the spring in order to prolong the life thereof. It will be understood that the resilient cushioning means may be placed in any other suitable location. In the example shown in Fig. 10, upper and lower springs 23 are provided and are attached at one end directly to the link 12 The opposite end of the lower spring is attached directly to the picker stick while the corresponding end of the upper spring is attached to a wear plate 23 interposed between the fastening bolt 16 and the picker stick. In this arrangement, it is evident that the pull of the spring 23* instead of being localized will be distributed over a considerable portion of the picker stick through the medium of bolt 16 and wear plate 13.

An ordinary U-bolt may be used in place of the special U-bolt shown in Figure 1, by providing a wear plate as shown in Figure 5 for insertion between the bolt and picker stick. This plate comprises a flat bo'dyportion 25 which may have upturned side flanges 28. The plate or its flanges are notched at '27 to receive the central-part of a U-bolt, for the purpose of holding the plate against dislodgment from between the bolt and stick. The plate will of course be made of material sufiiciently thick to prevent bending of the same under pressure and will obviously be stiffened. to a certain extent by. the flanges 26 if same are used.

The operation of the device is extremely simple; The plate 13 is applied to the edge of the picker stick and the supporting loop slipped through the loop of the lugstrap and its ends positioned by impalement on the pin 19. The plate 20 is then superposed. The U-bolt is passed through-the lugs 15 and' plate 20 and thewashers and nuts applied. The device is adjusted along the stick to properly position the lug strap.

When the desired adjustment is attained,

the nuts 21 are tightened and hold the plate 13 and supportin loop securely in place] when the supporting loop is in place, passed through the supporting loop and around the stick. The widened central part 17 of the bolt, or the-wear plate 25 in case an ordinary bolt is used, guard the picker stick against damage by reason of providing such extended bearing surface that the bolt cannot bite into 7 the wood. 'The lugs 14 hold the'plate in proper alignment with the stick. If the nuts should work loose they may be tightened up an indefinite number of timeswithout any damage to the stick. If it is desired to adjust the lug strap on the stick, the nuts are loosened and the plate slipped along as may be desired and the nuts again tightened. As there are no screw holes in the stick or dents, such as would be caused by an ordinary U-bolt biting into the stick, the adjustment is not limited but may be made as fine as is necessary. The plate 13 takes all the wear so that the picker stick is not in any way weakened. The plate 13 is, it will be noted, of considerable length and considerable thickness and therefore serves to distribute the load received from the lug strap through a considerable length of the stick, whereas without such a plate the load is concentrated on a single point and break age is thus invited. Distribution of the load naturally guards against breakage. hen the cushioning device takes the form of the leaf spring 23, the spring is inter posed between the strap 18 and plate 13 and held by the bolt 16, so that load is transferred gradually from the lug strap to the stick instead of in a single jerk, as is ordinarily the case. The cushioning device, whether located as in Figure 8, or as in Figure 9 or in any other manner, not only prolongs the life of the stick but also the life of the lug strap and, in fact, the whole picker mechanism and enables the loom to be successfully operated with a greatly reduced expenditure of power.

While the plate 13 is preferably provided at both ends with aligning lugs, it is obvious that these lugs may be omitted at the end adjacent the bolt 16, as clearly shown in Figure 3, reliance being placed upon the bolt to hold the plate in alignment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A lug strap attaching means comprising a clamping means to encircle a picker stick, a plate to overlie the edge of a picker stick and to be held thereto by said clamping means, lateral projections on said plate to engage opposite sides of the clamping means to hold the plate against longitudinal movement through the clamping means and to determine the clamping point of the plate, and a looped supporting strap held at its ends between the clamping means and plate.

2. A lug strap attaching means comprising a plate member to overlie the edge of a picker stick, a clamping member to hold the plate member to the stick, a pin carried by one of said members, a looped supporting strap having its ends impaled on said pin, the strap being also clamped at its ends between said members whereby the strap is maintained in operative engagement with the pm.

3. A lug strap holding attachment comprising an elongated plate, a U-bolt adapted to encircle the picker stick and slidable thereon and passing at its ends through said plate, a lug strap supporting loop, a positioning pin for the loop and a plate through which the ends of the U-bolt pass adapted to clamp the loop against the plate and to clamp both to the stick.

4. In a device of the class described, a wear plate adapted for attachment to a picker stick, a lug strap supporting loop and a cushioning spring interposed between the loop and wear plate and to have rolling engagement with said plate to gradually transfer load from a lug strap to the stick.

5. A lug strap holding attachment comprising an elongated plate, spaced lugs at one end thereof adapted to embrace a picker stick, a U-bolt adapted to embrace a picker stick and said plate adjacent the end remote from the lugs, a lug strap supporting loop, a positioning pin for the loop and a plate through which the ends of the U-bolt pass adapted to clamp the loop against the plate.

6. A lug strap holding attachment comprising an elongated plate, spaced lugs at one end thereof adapted to embrace a picker stick, a U-bolt adapted to embrace a pick er stick and said plate adjacent the end remote from the lugs, a lug strap supporting loop, a positioning pin for the loop and a plate through which the ends of the U-bolt pass adapted to clamp the loop against the plate, and a spring interposed between the loop and wear plate.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN J. LYTH. 

